Peanut Free and Nut Free

Other Food Allergies

Severe hives from unknown source

My almost 4 year old son (severely allergic to peanuts, cashews and shellfish) had a bout of severe hives after eating breakfast yesterday morning. He ate the same foods he's always eaten (a Kellogg's Nutrigrain cereal bar and rice milk), and within an hour had the most severe case of hives he's ever had. Benedryl didn't keep them away, nor did Hydroxyzene. We ended up getting the steroid, Prelone, to chase the hives away. He had no other symptoms (no tongue swelling, etc.) It took a good 6 hours for the hives to go away, only to come back this morning in full force. The Prelone seems to have taken full effect today. We saw the allergist today who said to continue a 5 day treatment of the steroid and an antihistamine.

I've called Kelloggs to report the hives, and they assured me there are no peanuts or nuts of any kind in the production of the Nutrigrain bars. They're willing to test the bars against the ingredient listing on the side of the box and will be sending me a mailing envelope to mail back the remaining bars. I have yet to call on the rice milk, but he's been drinking it for 3 years now with no problems.

Our allergist thinks there may be yet another food that our son is severely allergic to that we haven't yet tested for.

I'm searching for other ideas as to a cause or things we should suspect.

My pa daughter once had a severe outbreak in hives due to a virus that was in her system. The hives were absolutely huge and moved around her body. She had to be on some med (predizone, i think) for 7 days, then we could discontinue to see if the hives re-occured. They didn't.

I am not sure how her doc knew that it was a virus she was reacting to, nor have I ever heard of this before, but you might want to ask your allergist about it.

It can be so frustrating to not know what mystery food(s)/or smell(s) may have been the cause of the hives. My 9 year PA son has had several bouts of hives of unknown origin. He has had these most often when under someone elses care. We now know that he has quite a few foods to which is(was) allergic to- He loved potatoes yet tested positive to them and after 6 years avoiding potato has outgrown that one. He tested very allergic to sesame seeds- this can have as serious reactions as nuts. I encourage you to have additional testing. Is the rice milk almond flavored? My son had been eating ground almond in a cookie without apparent reaction but now due to test results we've had him avoid those and all tree nuts.

I just wanted you to know that you are not alone. My PA son has hives of unknown origin EVERY SINGLE DAY! It is frightening and frustrating. He gets them at home, at the supermarket, at friends' houses, at school, in the vehicle etc. My son is sensitive to scratches, but aside from that he still has hives from contact or ingestion several times a week. We go to the allergist again tomorrow as we continue to figure this all out! I hope you are successful at finding the culprit.

Andrea,
Hunter sounds like my son, Sam. Has he ever been diagnosed as having dermagraphia (or dermatographia - I've seen it spelled both ways). My son has lived with this for almost 3 years now - he is 5 years old. He develops hives anywhere he is bumped or scratched. Even slight pressure can cause welts, which get worse as he scratches. He takes Zyrtec every night to keep the hives somewhat under control, but it definitely does not eliminate them. It took a while for me to get this diagnosed - unfortunately the 1st allergist he saw tried to tell me that he as allergic to about 14 different foods that he had eaten with no problem. It turned out that he had hives from the "scratches" of the scratch test. When I switched to another allergist, the nurse caught the condition before even starting the scratch test, as Sam was developing hives from the pen marks she was drawing on his back to prep for the test. Anyway, if this is what Hunter has, feel free to write me - I think this is an even stranger (yet not nearly as serious) condition that P.A.

My son also "reacted" to Nutragrain bars. He is pn allergic. He had excema for a long time. When we discovered the severity of his pn allergy(6+, we stopped giving him things that "may" contain and also cross contam. issues were taken into consideration. His excema all but stopped. When he did start to itch we would analyze everything! We don't know why, but the nutragrain bars were causing this reaction. At first we thought he was sensitive to wheat, but he tolerates it well in other products. Who knows?? Maybe it is the concentration of the wheat or something else, but we don't buy them anymore and his excema is under control.

When my son Alex was about 6 months old I
brought him to a dermatologist because he had
exczema. He also had a brownish-red spot on
his back which I also asked him to look at.
He told me not to worry, it was nothing. He
called it a solitary mastocytoma. He scratched it and it became hive like- reddened and raised. Two weeks ago, Alex
started breaking out in hives to nothing in
particular. It was like there was an alien
in his body. They would just come and go.
Pressure also caused the hives. We took him
to an allergist and he said he thought the
solitary mastocytoma and the hives were related. Called it urticaria pigmentosa.
We started him on Claritin and Singulair.
After 4 days of Claritin we are going to try
Zyrtec and see which works best. He also
tested positive for peanut allergy. We drew
blood for RAST testing also. My heart is
breaking--Alex is only 2 years old. I'm
looking for answers as well as responding.
Those who wrote with unexplained hives--Look
up urticaria pigmentosa and mastocytosis on
the computer. It's scary but informative.

Help Wanted!! We are in the middle of a severe case of hives. Our son is 3, and was diagnosed PA at 18 months; so far we know of nothing else he is allergic or sensitive to. His only 2 reactions so far have been throwing up immediately after ingesting a taste of peanut butter. Yesterday we were out and about, stopped at Eat-N-Park, our usual stop because we know the "food history" there. Our son had his usual lunch, everything was fine. After we left, we headed to a furniture store we had never been to before. Minutes after we got there, our son started to cough - nothing major. I asked if he was okay, he said yes... but he also said "I think I'm allergic to something in here." I thought nothing of it - embarassed to admit that now. The cough went away quickly. We hung around the store for 30 - 45 minutes, tops, as he was very cranky. The rest of the day was fine, aside from the crankiness that wouldn't go away. At supper, he refused to eat anything, and didn't even take one bite. He was energetic and otherwise normal. At midnight last night, he woke up calling for me, and coughing non-stop. I gave him a drink of water, but it didn't help. He was also scratching his ears and neck. After I turned on the overhead light, we saw that he had red blotches around his neck and behind his ears. We thought it was his sleeper causing the itch, so we changed his clothes. It was the only thing we could think of because he hadn't eaten anything for almost 12 hours. We gave him Benadryl, and after 25 minutes, the coughing stopped and he fell back to sleep. I stayed with him all night, keeping a close eye on his breathing. He was fine - restless, but fine. This morning the hives had spread from head to toe - really bad where his eczema is. We gave him more Benadryl and will continue until the hives are gone. He still coughs occasionally. HERE IS MY QUESTION: could this be a reaction to the furniture store somehow?? My sister-in-law suggested this possibility. She has a close friend with many allergies, whom she spoke with after I called her for advice. Her friend also suspects the furniture store. The store really did have a pungent odor - stain, etc. Has anyone heard of this? ALSO, why the long delayed reaction??? We do not have an allergist at present, (we recently moved)and I do not think our pediatricians are trustworthy in the area of allergies. Are we doing the right thing with the Benadryl? And does anyone have any ideas at all?? A quick reply would be GREATLY appreciated. BTW, our son is showing no breathing problems, just the occasional cough.

[This message has been edited by Tammy James (edited February 06, 2000).]

I'd recommend you contact his doctor he may be having a delayed reaction to something- maybe even food even those son has eaten there before. He may need more than benadyl.

Did the store have new carpeting? Some glues give off fumes that I can't tolerate. My husband has a cat allergy which was hard to figure out re one small book store we shopped in had two cats that were allowed to roam the store. My husband would only be ther 5 to ten minutes yet it triggered asthma wheezing after we left store and cold like syptoms lasting up to ten days.

Finding it hard to believe the furniture store could have caused all that! Did you give the restaurant a call back and recheck the ingredients? Maybe something may have changed?!? I sure hope he's doing better by the time this is posted. Let us know!

Thanks for your replies and advice. So far, so good with just the Benadryl. We called the restaurant first thing this morning to rule out peanuts. It's just so hard to tell, and hard to take not knowing for sure!! Thanks again, and I'll let you know if we ever find out what happened!

I also had a doctor diagnose an extreme case of hives as a reaction to a virus. The hives lasted approximately four days. We had no luck with benedryl & prelone. After the third day his allergist prescribed Atarax Syrup & the hives immediately disappeared.

Hello again! We think we've found the culprit: Huggies Pull-ups!! Here's how we spent our evening/early morning: Our son's hives were not getting any better - at the end of the 4-hour cycle of Benadryl, he would get worse, then better, and so on. After talking to my sister-in-law's friend myself, we decided to go ahead and call the doctor's office. A nurse was "on call" and she said there really is no treatment for hives, other than Benadryl and steroids, so as long as he was not in respiratory distress, he was okay for the rest of the night, and if he still wasn't better by morning, we could bring him into the office. The 'friend' happened to mention that if it had been her child, she would have taken him to the ER last night when he was coughing so much. (Live and learn - we thought we were doing the right thing by letting the Benadryl do its job!) Anyway, We were still trying to figure out what could possibly be wrong at bedtime. I put a pull-up on our son for the night, and within 30 minutes to an hour he was scratching again, his hives were bright red and growing larger, and appearing in new places - especially his face. I was befuddled for a minute because we had just given him Benadryl not 2 hours earlier. Then it hit me. About a month ago, we noticed a rash on his bottom, and suspected the pull-ups. We changed brands and he improved a good bit. A couple days ago, we ran out of the new type we were using, but had some Huggies left over and thought it would be okay for one or two nights. Wrong. By 11pm he was coughing constantly, and the hives had shown up near his mouth. We decided to go to the ER. We also gave him his Epi-pen before we left the house. In 10 minutes we were at the ER, and the coughing had stopped. The nurses and DR. were great. They gave him a Benadryl IV, and prescribed steroids for the next 3 days. I told my husband I thought I'd never see the day when I would be thankful for our son's PA, but without it, we wouldn't have had the Epi, and we probably wouldn't have known he was having an allergic reaction! Everything went smoothly, but looking back, if we could have done anything differently, we wouldn't have waited so long. I do plan to get on the phone today to get a product safety sheet from Huggies!! We need to know what exactly caused this very surprising and scary reaction!! I will also be calling our pediatrician to inform him of our ER visit, and to request a referral to an allergist!! Thank you all again, for your advice and help. Stay safe out there!!

Just wanted to let you know that we have a follow-up appointment this week with the Ped. and will get a referral then - we need a recommendation from him as we are unfamiliar with the allergists in our area. I will let you know what he says, and also what the allergist finds. It's hard to tell how long it may be before we actually get an appointment - you know how that can go sometimes! - but I WILL get back to you! Thanks again so very much - your support is greatly appreciated!! Does anyone have any pointers when it comes to finding a new allergist? We were very lucky with the Dr. who tested him for peanuts and tree nuts, but we only saw him that one time, then moved out-of-state. Advice is always welcome!

Often times the pediatrician can get you in to see an allergist faster than if you make the appointment yourself. Be sure to ask your pediatrician if they will call for you and make the appointment.

NOTE FOR EVERYONE; If you are in the Unites States are you using a board certified allergist? If you are in another country let us know the qualifications of your allergists there etc.
Let us know what kind of qualifications your allergist has and if you have not decided to see an allergist let us know about that also.
Many do not realize the importance of having an allergist and experiences help us to learn.

Send me an e mail (or better yet post so others will see it on these boards).

Although pediatricians are great in diagnosing allergic reactions, many times they lack the time to truly devote to their patients, individually, who have allergies. My pediatrician recognized the reactions my son were having were from a serious allergy and referred us to my son's allergist at 12 months of age, he is now 5. The allergist my son sees was a pediatrician before he went into allergy and we also benefit from that! It seems to work best in our case that my son sees our family doctor, now, for routine visits (check-ups, boosters, etc) and his allergist for his allergy shots and
follow up visits.

Hello again. Someone from Huggies got back to me today. The Pull-ups are made mostly of polypropylene and polyethylene, as well as polyacrytate and polyurethane. She also mentioned elastic and adhesive. She did not, however, say anything about dyes. I noticed that there is a blue lining on the inside of the pants, the part closest to the skin, and the suspected culprit!! I wrote back to her, asking for clarification on this. Thanks for the allergist advice!!

[This message has been edited by Tammy James (edited February 08, 2000).]

This thread seems to have gotten a little off the original subject--my question is to Nicole Smith--did you ever find anything out as to what your son reacted to? My son is only allergic to peanuts and has also eaten Kellogg's Nutrigrain Bars numerous times. He hadn't eaten one in awhile and asked for one for breakfast this morning. I opened a brand new box and he ate one with a glass of milk. Within the hour, I noticed his eye looked a little red and he had some hives starting under his eye--his first sign of a reaction. Our home is completely peanut free so it had been a long time since he'd had a reaction. I had remembered reading your post a few days ago and immediately called Kellogg's myself and they also reassured me that the nutrigrain bars are manufactured in a peanut-free plant and contain no peanuts. She apologized for his reaction and said she'd send him a Tony the Tiger stuffed animal. That's kind of off the subject, but I just gave him Benadryl because I was sure he hadn't eaten peanuts. The Benadryl cleared the hives within a matter of minutes. He had been fine all day until early evening when the hives reappeared under the same eye. I gave him Benadryl again and within a matter of minutes they were gone. I'm going to call the allergist tomorrow, but in the meantime I was wondering if you had found anything out. Thanks.

DMB, I apologize if I posted under what you felt was the incorrect thread. Our situation began as "severe hives from an unknown source" so I thought this was the appropriate place. Again, I'm sorry if I was wrong.

To those of you following our on-going saga, we just got back from the pediatrician's office and I will vent about that later. Huggies got back to me about the dye. It's not a dye that causes the coloring, it's a pigment, just the natural color of that product. I don't know if my digging for an answer is helping or not?!?

I tried to post a reply earlier and had some problems. (Christine, if you're reading, it looks like you might have had same problem - I can't read your msg either ! ) I'm concerned that 2 different people have experienced allergic reactions to the Nutrigrain bars. I think someone should contact FAN and have them contact Kelloggs. I've been really worried lately about genetically engineered foods after reading about a soybean that was injected with a Brazil nut gene and which thereby acquired the allergenic properties of the Brazil nut. I think the soybean was pulled off the market, but I'm concerned this kind of thing will happen again. There are no FDA rqmts to label genetically eng food. I'm not sure this has anything to do with these cases but I really think FAN should be looking into this.

Tammy James - You asked if your digging about huggies was helpful. I'd love to hear what you find out. When my son was an infant three years ago, he got a rash from Huggies Ultrathin diapers. I have not used them since. This happened long before I knew about the rest of his allergies, and I simply chalked it up to a sensitive skin. In the last year, he has gotten hives from an unknown source three times. In each case, he had taken a berry flavored decongestant. I am convinced that it's dye from over the counter cough & cold medicine. It seems to be the blue or berry flavored dye that affects him. Thanks for sharing any information you find!

kar,
We visited our new allergist last week. She seems to be going on our lead that it was from the training pants. So far I've contacted Huggies about the pigment used in the blue lining, but have received no response. I'm afraid I touched on a subject 'they' are not comfortable with - a life-threatening situation involving them (even though I mean them no harm in any way!). I also e-mailed Fruit of the Loom concerning their screened underwear; also, no response so far. Our allergist is also doing detective work on this. I'm hoping she can get further than we have. Sorry I don't have better info at this point, but I'll post whatever the end result turns out to be. Have you seen any more reactions with your son that may have involved dyes in clothing? Did his reaction ever become worse than a rash, and was the 'rash' just like any other rash in appearance? My son's 'rash' was suspicious looking from the start. (Hindsight is 20/20!)

Me again. A rep. from Kimberly-Clarke contacted me today. She was extremely nice and patient with my somewhat 'frazzled' explanation about my son's reaction. She said she would be in contact directly with our allergist and discuss the pigment and fragrance used in the Pull-ups. I assured her I was asking about the coloring only so we would know what to avoid in the future, not to place blame or for any other reason. She says they have heard of skin reactions before, but never an anaphylactic one. She was very open to hearing about our son's PA (even though this reaction was NOT from food at all) and how allergies can develop over time. I was very glad to finally hear from her, and that the company is willing to follow-up and learn about our situation. I'll keep you posted as things come up.

To DMB who asked what we've learned from Kellogg's and Nutrigrain bars - so far nothing!

For some reason their lab hasn't gotten back the results from testing the remaining bars in the box of Nutrigrain Apple Cinammon Bars. The lab work apparently isn't supposed to take this long, but my original contact in Consumer Affairs is out of the office until Friday, Feb 25th.

I have read this thread with interest...my PA daughter has enjoyed Nutrigrain bars many times without reaction. When the thread progressed to the Huggies reaction, I got even more interested.

About 3 years ago I had a reaction to 'Always' napkins...it was awful (as you can imagine). I do not personally have any allergies. My physician informed me that the chemical they use on the Always pads for the 'dry weave' causes an allergic reaction in approximately 20% of the women who use them. She suggested I switch brands...I did and the problem is gone. I started to wonder... do pull-ups or diapers use a similar chemical to keep baby dry?

Do you know whether you child is allergic to dogs or cats or both? My son is allergic to dogs and cats and I am allergic to cats, and we both react with hives around the eyes as well as itchy eyes when we are around either of these animals. Just a thought.

Nicole Smith, I'm anxious to find out what their tests show. Please post when they contact you with the results. My son had eaten one of the mixed berry variety and continued to have hives around his eye the next day. I called his allergist to report his reaction and to reaffirm he had not eaten anything with peanuts (and that I had called Kelloggs to make sure) and he said that my son was obviously reacting to something in the bars and to not give him any again--even though he's eaten them numerous times before without incident. He said to continue with the benadryl because it would probably take 3-4 days for his body to rid the allergen. Kelloggs did send my son a Tony the Tiger doll and a pamphlet on their foods. Please keep us updated on what you find out. Thanks for your reply! And to DHUMPHRIES-as far as we know, my son is not allergic to anything except peanuts. He's been around cats/dogs several times without any type of a reaction. My husband is allergic to animals, so because of that we don't have any pets. The only logical assumption was that he reacted to the nutrigrain bar. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion!

Okay, I KNOW this is a PA board so sorry if I offend anyone with this post... What's the deal with Huggies??? Yesterday my 15 month old DD who has no known allergies got two large, red, burn-looking spots on her lower back where the waistband of her Huggies touched her - it almost looked like huge blisters. I have been noticing for about a month now some slight redness in that area but just thought it was the pressure of the waistband or something; now I don't know what to think. I know they are supposedly latex-free, but I'm thinking the elastic in the back waisband may have caused her spots... Any ideas?

Regarding the Huggies - I was just checking out the Diapering bulletin board at Parentsplace.com the other day, and there's a running thread there about reactions to Huggies diapers. Apparently, several children are having problems with them, including those not known to have allergies. I'm glad that some of you here have contacted the manufacturor - I suggested that those parents do the same. I generally have used cloth diapers for my son, but have used Huggies in the past. I noticed that if he wore more than 2 disposables consecutively, he would get red. Most manufacturors add perfumes and such to their diapers. Perhaps this is what the problem is? As far as the absorbent gel (polyacrylite-somthing-or-other), any ultra-thin diaper (or sanitary napkin, for that matter) uses this same stuff, so if that's the problem, it would occur with other brands. You may want to try looking for a diaper/pull-up that's labelled as "perfume-free" and see if that helps.

Received word from Kellogg's that the testing on the Apple Cinnamon Nutrigrain bars showed no peanuts in the bars. We have decided to stay away from the bars entirely -no sense in asking for trouble! So we basically don't know why Morgan reacted so severely, and maybe it wasn't the bars at all. But my supposition is there's something in the bar that sparks allergies.

Wow this is all so scary -- My son (2 years) eats Kelloggs' Nutrigrain bars, Twists and Fruitful bars EVERY day -- never a reaction of any kind. I called Kelloggs (as I do nearly every manufacturer)when we became aware of the PA situation and felt very comfortable with their response; I consider them a preferred vendor. Even on cereal boxes they seem to take great care to warn of possible cross contamination with high allergens (or I may have this mixed up with General Mills -- another of my "preferred vendors"). This is just more reinforcement that we need to continue to be vigilant and have an ever watchful eye in case he reacts to something we never have considered questionable, let alone unsafe. And, as far as Huggies, I've never particularly liked them and these posts reinforce using another vendor as we enter the toilet training phase. Stay safe everyone!

Just an update:
We're getting nowhere fast with the Huggies and Fruit of the Loom research. Our son was tested for latex - negative - so that's no longer a question (Thank you, God).
We will meet with the allergist next week to discuss other results - environmental, and the "big time" peanut result. This was his first RAST (he had the skin prick 2 years ago) so I'm curious to speak with the Dr. about it. Like a lot of others, our first allergist told us the basics "This is what it is, this is what you do..." I have a whole list of questions I'm ready with this time!!

To bring some sort of closure to the Huggies topic: my son had a patch test which came back inconclusive. I feel that if he could have worn the patches for a longer time period, we would have seen something, but the Dr.'s limit was 2 days. I guess this means we're done with our 'research'. Sorry I didn't get any answers!! I still believe - without a doubt - that the Pull Ups are what caused the reaction... and I'll never believe anything else. Even the company told me that they've received other reports of reactions, just none to the extent of my son's. I'm passing along this advice: if your child develops any kind of redness or rash from Huggies, STOP USING THEM immediately, and don't use them again. Take care.

AFter a month of playing detective I still can't find where there may have been a peanut product in my son's dinner last month. The allergist is puzzled too and it is in the "may never be known" category. I have spent the bulk of my time in the lst month talking to the president, consumer products and safety specialists at the following companies: Healthy Choice Cooked Ham, Chuck-E-Cheese macaroni and cheese, KC Maasterpiece BBQ sauce, Country Pride Chicken ( I even went so far to find out if peanuts were a feed for chickens would it be found in the protein of the meat...the answer is no) and ( a possiblity) a roll from the bakery at our local grocery ( never had any trouble before and I know..I know..). Anyway...would love any leads. At this point I'm frustrated. His Dr feel sure it was a peanut reaction ( he's been tested for 17 items since). I had taken pictures of him before I went to the ER...( good idea if you can for future reference). This is long enough!

I hope if my son ever has a bad reaction again (How I hope and pray not!) that I will have the moment to take a picture. I think it would be a very effective tool when talking to babysitters, family, school, etc.
Of course safety would have to come first before I took the time to take it.

I agree. Taking a picture, if you have that
few seconds, would be a very good idea. I
did not do this when my son had his reaction
this last summer (my post is My Sons Bad
Reaction This Summer) and I often have
wished that I would have. When we try to
explain it to others it would be more
impressive on them if they saw a picture of
what happens. Also, the pictures would
be good for my son to see so he remembers
what it is like if he eats something he is
allergic to. I hope it never happens again,
but if it does I will take a few quick
snap shots.
Tracy

I'm sorry, I just read about the anaphylactic reaction Tammy James' son had to Huggies and I had to get in here and read it. First of all, Tammy James, I feel for you and your family and especially because this was not what we would consider an obvious source for an anaphylactic reaction. The only 2 cents I can add is this - my PA son could only wear Huggies diapers, he would react, and only with a very slight rash, to Pampers or store brand ones. My daughter, on the other hand, could NEVER wear Huggies or store brand ones without developing a really terrible rash. Poor little bugs (and bums)!. Also, to the person who posted above re Always Pads, I have the same problem with them, I stick to my tried and true Kotex. It's funny what you can react to, isn't it, but Tammy James, I'm so sorry that your son reacted this severely. I can deal with the rashes my children have endured and simply switched diapers. And, I apologize also to the starter of this thread but the discussion got started and I saw a mention of it tonight in another thread and then couldn't find a post by Tammy James re Huggies so did a Search on it and your thread pulled up. Best wishes, all! [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]

Cindy,
Thanks so much for your concern, and best wishes over this subject. I'm sure others are tiring of this topic popping up every now and then, but it's surprising how many others have had similar stories (rash). I truly appreciate everyone's support and concern about this!!

As an update, my younger son has now developed a growing red rash from wearing a Drypers brand pull-up for only 2 hours - 2 weeks ago. It won't go away, no matter what I try!!! I called the allergist today. She is still baffled over the Huggies incident, and wants to see our younger son. I hope the referral works out quickly! Thanks again for all the caring support!

Also, Cindy and Everyone, I've never taken the opportunity to say how much I personally appreciate how wonderful you all are! Everyone is so polite, sincere, honest, and truly caring to each other. I know things can get heated at times, but we're all in this together, and I know we'll always help each other out if we can. This board has helped me and my family from day one - THANK YOU, EVERYONE from the bottom of my heart. [img]http://uumor.pair.com/nutalle2/peanutallergy/smile.gif[/img]
Tammy James

My son eats Nutrigrain bars every day without incident (he is severely PA) I thank the company for putting out a kid friendly product that is pnut-free. He has had reactions in public places, a major one on the Georgetown Loop train. My thought is that he touched peanut residue - perhaps your child did too in the restaurant or furniture store where their are lots of kids/families visiting all day long. As for Huggies pull-ups - both my kids grew up in Huggies diapers - no problems. My daughter (no allergies) developed a severe itchy rash whenever I put her in Huggies Pull-ups. I mentioned it to her Parent's Day Out teacher who said it was a common problem with the gel(?) - lots of kids having reactions. So we discontinued use (actually it helped potty train her faster by using the cotton training pants). Now my son is potty training and we forgot - put him in Huggies Pull-ups. Of course, he reacted the same way - severe itchy rash that resolved itself by discontinuing using the product. It's the Huggies - not the PA. My suggestion is to find another brand of training pants or use the cotton ones I used (it's really great - they know instantly when they've soiled themselves). As for the Nutrigrain - I'm pretty positive it's not the product - we consume so many of these bars Philip would have had a reaction by now. Hope this helps.

I realize that these posts were written 12 years ago, but maybe this will help another family in a similar situation. About a week and a half ago my son broke out into hives after eating cashews. It was the first time he had ever gotten hives. Just tonight, he said "will I get those bumps again?" right after he a generic brand of apple cinnamon nutrigrain bars. I asked him what he was talking about and he said that his tongue felt the same way that it did after he ate cashews. We quickly gave him benadryl and he seems to be doing fine, but I find it very interesting that other people have experienced similar reactions!!